Saturday, April 8, 2000
Hilton Washington Hotel
Washington, DC

Meeting was called to order by Chairman Don Puyear.

Minutes approved, motion by Armstrong to approve.

Financial report delivered by Buonora, motion to approve by Armstrong, financial report approved.

David Buonora announced that he will be leaving AACC and working for Howard Community College. He noted that there will be continued support for the State Directors and a smooth transition of staff will be worked out by AACC. David was congratulated and thanked by the group and invited to attend the summer meeting.

Florence Guyer provided an overview of the web site for NCSDCC. The site includes information from all state directors' offices which have provided information, and includes 58 files with more than 700 hyperlinks. Ms. Guyer will add more information as it is submitted by state directors.

Steve Scott provided information on behalf of Martin Lancaster on the upcoming summer meeting to be held August 7-9 at Atlantic Beach in North Carolina. Detailed information was passed out at the meeting to members who were in attendance.

Art Cohen provided an update on the ERIC Clearinghouse and urged state directors to provide ongoing updated reports and studies for the clearinghouse. One third of the states have nothing posted in the clearinghouse.

State directors provided brief updates of major issues underway in their states. Hot issues discussed by multiple states included governance and organizational studies, transfer or merger of vocational/workforce responsibilities, part-time faculty pay and benefits, pressures to prepare more trained workers, technology and distance learning, accountability, and funding strategies.

Eric Johnson with the U.S. Dept. of Labor provided an update on the Workforce Investment Act. The WIA repeals JTPA effective July 1. All state plans have been submitted and will be approved, but some states will have more comments than others regarding their plans.

Dave Buonora, David Baime, and Dave Pierce provided updates on federal issues, and on work that has been ongoing regarding the Veterans Administration's policies regarding nurses. Martin Lancaster has provided valuable assistance to the AACC staff on this issue.

Katherine Boswell with the Education Commission of the States, provided an update on their activities. Funding for the Center for Community College Policy has been provided by the Dept. of Education. Policy papers have been mailed to state directors and other interested parties, and the ECS web site provides access to download the policy papers. She also noted that 45 states have participated in the ECS finance study. A follow up survey will be sent to states soon. Additionally, ECS is working with the Ford Foundation on an articulation and transfer study, and another project will be focused on how community colleges serve the poor and disadvantaged.

Dale Campbell, director of the Institute of Higher Education at the University of Florida, provided a report on critical issues that were identified at the recently held Community College Futures Assembly. The top three issues were: 1) Finding sufficient and multiple sources of funds for workforce development; 2) Appropriately using outcome measures for accountability; and 3) Cost of Technology. For additional information he can be reached at dfc@coe.ufl.edu.

Dave Buonora provided an update on the scholarship fund established by NCSDCC on behalf of Lee Myers, associate NCSDCC member from Pennsylvania who passed away last year. The Council will send out a letter soliciting contributions for the scholarship fund.  Funds will be collected by the Council and put into a separate savings account and after all contributions have been received, the funds will be turned over to Patricia Meyers to invest for her daughter's education. For more information on the fund, contact David Baime-dbaime@aacc.nche.edu.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:00 pm.

National Council of State Directors of Community Colleges
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Phone: (202)728-0200 Fax: (202)833-2467
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The National Council of State Directors of Community Colleges is an affiliated council of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC).  The council provides a forum for the exchange of information about developments, trends, and problems in state systems of community colleges.  

Through our affiliation with AACC, we also strive to affect national legislation that impacts our colleges and state agencies.

This is the only Council that represents the collective interest of state agencies and state boards of community colleges.  This council is a valuable forum to help state directors deal with the changes in attitude and policies towards community colleges at the international, federal, state and local levels.  We will share information and learn lessons from each other to better serve the interests of our institutions in the coming years.